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"h
EDGER
University of Washington, Tacoma
uwtledger.com
Tips for landing your dream
job
Pages
New football coacli visits
campus
Page 5
lyieet the Ledger staff Pages 6, 7
Vol. IX No. 9
February 24, 2005
10Q3^y ICarl Mack, outspoken former president of Seattle NAACP, gives talk in Carwein Auditorium at 5:00 p.m.
Series of meetings attempt grad resolution
Talk of student protest as convention center location seems unlikely to change
Photos courtesy of Matt Davis Graduates may find posing for photos much easier this year with only four guests.
By Mark White Staff Writer
The fate of the effort under¬ taken by student representatives to have changes made to this year's commencement ceremony will be decided today in a 2:00 meeting between student repre¬ sentatives and UWT administra¬ tion.
The meeting was agreed upon Thursday, February 17 at a previous meeting where an attempt was made to resolve the tensions building around the imposition of a preliminwy four
ticket per student limit for this year's commencement.
The first meeting was born of what Peter Kellet, ASUWT director of events and program¬ ming and member ofthe gradua¬ tion and commencement speaker committees, termed an angry email he sent to Steve Smith.
The email to Smith, director of community relations for UWT and the man charged with commencement arrangements, concerned Smith's "blatant
disregard of the student voice at UWT,' in Kellet's words.
Kellet said going into the first meeting that the student repre¬ sentatives would not back down from demands, which included a change of venue and a change of commencement speaker. The repre¬ sentatives spoke of possibilities ranging from protest and boycott
to a separate, student ot^anized and funded, graduation cere¬ mony.
Kellet has said that tentative arrangements have been made with Cheney Stadium as well as inquiries into the use of the Puyallup Fairgrounds. Both are available June 10, the date of the official graduation. He has also contacted Shellie Jo W^hite, director of student life and advisor to the service and activities fee committee, about requesting funds for a student organized graduation.
Word about the choice of speaker was passed to the commencement speaker
committee just before Kel let's email, adding fuel to the fire. The name has not been ofTicially announced, but his political background has stirred emotions among those privy to the infor-
"Ifa black matrket didn't develop
[for tickets], then we wouldn't be
teaching business right."
- Steven Olswang UWT Interim Chancellor
Gen-X faces growing personal debt
By Kevin Green Staff Writer
The Bureau of the Public Debt, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for borrowing the money needed to operate the Federal Govemment, reports that the current national debt figure hovers just below $7.7 trillion dollars.
Should decision-makers in Washington wake up one moming and decide that it was suddenly the individual citizen's responsi¬ bility to ante up to cover an even¬ ly distributed portion of the debt, the over 295 million Americans who share this country would owe over $26,000 each.
But those decision-makers in Washington will never wake up one moming and make such a radical decision, for living in debt has become the American way.
Last fall, the nonpartisan, pub¬ lic policy group, Demos, released a report titled, "Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Younger Americans.*' In
the report. Demos claims that Generation Xers, aged 25-34, now have the second highest rate of filing for bankmptcy, just behind 35-44 year olds. The young adults who dominated the media as baby-faced millionaires during the tech boom ofthe '90s, today are more likely to file for bankmptcy than Baby Boomers were during their time in the same age bracket.
Listing problems on Wall Street as one reason for the financial difficulties that plague Generation X, the Motley Fool, an online financial advisor, cites Lisa Chamberlain of the New York Observer. Chamberlain writes, "[WJhen the bubble burst in 2000, Gen-X, compared with other age groups, had the largest percentage of their assets invest¬ ed in the stock market."
Classifying 25-34 year olds as "young adults" and citing 2001 figures, the Demos report goes on to say that young adults now spend 24 percent of their income on debt payments, up four per¬ centage points from 1992 esti¬
mates. Average credit card debt in this group is $4,088, a daunting 55 percent higher than in 1992.
Appropriately categorizing 18-24 year olds as the "youngest adults," the study finds that this group saw an even sharper 104 percent rise in credit card debt, an average of $2,985. These youngest adults now spend an average of 30 percent of house¬ hold income on debt payments, twice what 18-24 year olds were paying in 1992.
Student loans are another huge factor in Gen-X debt. According to the report, "This generation is also the first to shoulder the cost of their college primarily through interest-bearing loans rather than grants."
The report continues, "For example, in the 1992-1993 school year, 42 percent of students boi rowed money for college. By the end of the decade, almost two- thirds of students had borrowed,"
Students dreaming of a bright future were forced to borrow
See GEN X, page 11
mation.
Members of the speaker committee insist that they did not want a political figure, that they were coaxed into putting the name in question on the list by Smidi. All names on the list were selected from respotises to a call for submissions of names from students. Kellet admits that the name finally selected was submitted by at least two students; more, perhaps, than the others.
Smith, did not wish to specu¬ late on the outcome of the first meeting before it took place, saying cryptically that he had hope of some factual issues being clarified. He added that he would not want to comment after the meeting, either
Much of the student outcry to this point has been directed at Smith, who accepts that respon¬ sibility. "I'm not going to pass the buck, I'm responsible," Smith said. "I don't have the final say but 1 play a large role in the deci¬ sions."
He is quick to add that this is the best and only altemative for facilitating the change of venue from the Tacoma E)ome to the Greater Tacoma Convention Center.
There were few smiles from
See MEETINGS, page 11
Meaning of
diversity
examined
By Jacqueline Rivera Staff Writer
The issue was raised of substituting a broader themed "Diversity Month" for Black History Month. The idea was quickly tumed down follow¬ ing a heated negative response. Strong feelings regarding how to celebrate February on campus remain.
According to Lisa M. Rankins, Lead Admissions Specialist, this type of thing has happened before. A couple of years ago, new mem¬ bers of the Black Student Union attempted change the union's name to the Multicultural Student Union. They were met with resis¬ tance and quickly gave up.
"Diversity is too broad of an area, said Rankins. "To change Black History Month to one of Diversity, that covers lifestyles... it will really sadden me to take away the culture and the history [since] we fought hard for this."
"The whole purpose of Black History month is the history," she said. Originally lasting a week, the idea for a celebration of Black History was organized by Carter G. Woodson. The month of February was picked because it held the birthdays of Fredrick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, two important figures in black history. Woodson wanted to ensure that the nation was pay¬ ing attention to the contributions of Black Americans whether they were from the past or present and those to come. This was sup¬ posed to be a time of educating and including different races.
"Black History Month is so relevant to the history of who we axe that to take that away and let it be Diversity Month to me is nonsense. It is a time of educating not just black students, staff and faculty, but other ethnic groups to understand our culture, who we are and why we are proud of who we are. You are getting away from who you are, what you stand for, and the history of Black folks," Rankins added.
This college proudly pro¬ motes teaching diversity. All the major university presidents in Washington agreed that, "When students have the chance to leam firsthand from and with people of other racial and ethnic back¬ grounds, they come away better equipped to understand and carry on the great, unfinished American Experiment in which we are all
See DIVERSITY, page 11

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"h
EDGER
University of Washington, Tacoma
uwtledger.com
Tips for landing your dream
job
Pages
New football coacli visits
campus
Page 5
lyieet the Ledger staff Pages 6, 7
Vol. IX No. 9
February 24, 2005
10Q3^y ICarl Mack, outspoken former president of Seattle NAACP, gives talk in Carwein Auditorium at 5:00 p.m.
Series of meetings attempt grad resolution
Talk of student protest as convention center location seems unlikely to change
Photos courtesy of Matt Davis Graduates may find posing for photos much easier this year with only four guests.
By Mark White Staff Writer
The fate of the effort under¬ taken by student representatives to have changes made to this year's commencement ceremony will be decided today in a 2:00 meeting between student repre¬ sentatives and UWT administra¬ tion.
The meeting was agreed upon Thursday, February 17 at a previous meeting where an attempt was made to resolve the tensions building around the imposition of a preliminwy four
ticket per student limit for this year's commencement.
The first meeting was born of what Peter Kellet, ASUWT director of events and program¬ ming and member ofthe gradua¬ tion and commencement speaker committees, termed an angry email he sent to Steve Smith.
The email to Smith, director of community relations for UWT and the man charged with commencement arrangements, concerned Smith's "blatant
disregard of the student voice at UWT,' in Kellet's words.
Kellet said going into the first meeting that the student repre¬ sentatives would not back down from demands, which included a change of venue and a change of commencement speaker. The repre¬ sentatives spoke of possibilities ranging from protest and boycott
to a separate, student ot^anized and funded, graduation cere¬ mony.
Kellet has said that tentative arrangements have been made with Cheney Stadium as well as inquiries into the use of the Puyallup Fairgrounds. Both are available June 10, the date of the official graduation. He has also contacted Shellie Jo W^hite, director of student life and advisor to the service and activities fee committee, about requesting funds for a student organized graduation.
Word about the choice of speaker was passed to the commencement speaker
committee just before Kel let's email, adding fuel to the fire. The name has not been ofTicially announced, but his political background has stirred emotions among those privy to the infor-
"Ifa black matrket didn't develop
[for tickets], then we wouldn't be
teaching business right."
- Steven Olswang UWT Interim Chancellor
Gen-X faces growing personal debt
By Kevin Green Staff Writer
The Bureau of the Public Debt, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for borrowing the money needed to operate the Federal Govemment, reports that the current national debt figure hovers just below $7.7 trillion dollars.
Should decision-makers in Washington wake up one moming and decide that it was suddenly the individual citizen's responsi¬ bility to ante up to cover an even¬ ly distributed portion of the debt, the over 295 million Americans who share this country would owe over $26,000 each.
But those decision-makers in Washington will never wake up one moming and make such a radical decision, for living in debt has become the American way.
Last fall, the nonpartisan, pub¬ lic policy group, Demos, released a report titled, "Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Younger Americans.*' In
the report. Demos claims that Generation Xers, aged 25-34, now have the second highest rate of filing for bankmptcy, just behind 35-44 year olds. The young adults who dominated the media as baby-faced millionaires during the tech boom ofthe '90s, today are more likely to file for bankmptcy than Baby Boomers were during their time in the same age bracket.
Listing problems on Wall Street as one reason for the financial difficulties that plague Generation X, the Motley Fool, an online financial advisor, cites Lisa Chamberlain of the New York Observer. Chamberlain writes, "[WJhen the bubble burst in 2000, Gen-X, compared with other age groups, had the largest percentage of their assets invest¬ ed in the stock market."
Classifying 25-34 year olds as "young adults" and citing 2001 figures, the Demos report goes on to say that young adults now spend 24 percent of their income on debt payments, up four per¬ centage points from 1992 esti¬
mates. Average credit card debt in this group is $4,088, a daunting 55 percent higher than in 1992.
Appropriately categorizing 18-24 year olds as the "youngest adults," the study finds that this group saw an even sharper 104 percent rise in credit card debt, an average of $2,985. These youngest adults now spend an average of 30 percent of house¬ hold income on debt payments, twice what 18-24 year olds were paying in 1992.
Student loans are another huge factor in Gen-X debt. According to the report, "This generation is also the first to shoulder the cost of their college primarily through interest-bearing loans rather than grants."
The report continues, "For example, in the 1992-1993 school year, 42 percent of students boi rowed money for college. By the end of the decade, almost two- thirds of students had borrowed,"
Students dreaming of a bright future were forced to borrow
See GEN X, page 11
mation.
Members of the speaker committee insist that they did not want a political figure, that they were coaxed into putting the name in question on the list by Smidi. All names on the list were selected from respotises to a call for submissions of names from students. Kellet admits that the name finally selected was submitted by at least two students; more, perhaps, than the others.
Smith, did not wish to specu¬ late on the outcome of the first meeting before it took place, saying cryptically that he had hope of some factual issues being clarified. He added that he would not want to comment after the meeting, either
Much of the student outcry to this point has been directed at Smith, who accepts that respon¬ sibility. "I'm not going to pass the buck, I'm responsible," Smith said. "I don't have the final say but 1 play a large role in the deci¬ sions."
He is quick to add that this is the best and only altemative for facilitating the change of venue from the Tacoma E)ome to the Greater Tacoma Convention Center.
There were few smiles from
See MEETINGS, page 11
Meaning of
diversity
examined
By Jacqueline Rivera Staff Writer
The issue was raised of substituting a broader themed "Diversity Month" for Black History Month. The idea was quickly tumed down follow¬ ing a heated negative response. Strong feelings regarding how to celebrate February on campus remain.
According to Lisa M. Rankins, Lead Admissions Specialist, this type of thing has happened before. A couple of years ago, new mem¬ bers of the Black Student Union attempted change the union's name to the Multicultural Student Union. They were met with resis¬ tance and quickly gave up.
"Diversity is too broad of an area, said Rankins. "To change Black History Month to one of Diversity, that covers lifestyles... it will really sadden me to take away the culture and the history [since] we fought hard for this."
"The whole purpose of Black History month is the history," she said. Originally lasting a week, the idea for a celebration of Black History was organized by Carter G. Woodson. The month of February was picked because it held the birthdays of Fredrick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, two important figures in black history. Woodson wanted to ensure that the nation was pay¬ ing attention to the contributions of Black Americans whether they were from the past or present and those to come. This was sup¬ posed to be a time of educating and including different races.
"Black History Month is so relevant to the history of who we axe that to take that away and let it be Diversity Month to me is nonsense. It is a time of educating not just black students, staff and faculty, but other ethnic groups to understand our culture, who we are and why we are proud of who we are. You are getting away from who you are, what you stand for, and the history of Black folks," Rankins added.
This college proudly pro¬ motes teaching diversity. All the major university presidents in Washington agreed that, "When students have the chance to leam firsthand from and with people of other racial and ethnic back¬ grounds, they come away better equipped to understand and carry on the great, unfinished American Experiment in which we are all
See DIVERSITY, page 11